On Tue, 18 Jul 2017 06:41:31 -0700, Gunner Asch
wrote:
Fuel maintainence is easy and cheap. Diesel engine parts cost is
cheap..when you consider the time/life part of diesel engines. When
you replace a part on a diesel..its less than than 1/4 as often as a
gasoline engine and may cost the same or 2x as much..hence you are
saving a fair amount of cash.
I have an SAE paper here that pretty convincingly makes the case that
the life of an engine can be expressed in the total number of
revolutions it has made. Diesels have a reputation for being reliable
because they have traditional turned at lower RPM to deliver the
required power. A diesel driving an 1800 RPM generator turns the same
number of total RPM as a gas 1800 RPM generator so the gap narrows and
probably closes.
Besides, engines designed with CAD software and manufactured with CAM
machinery achieve vastly closer tolerances than the engines of old.
300,000 miles on a gas engine isn't unusual these days.
Example: My neighbor is the wine expert for the regional liquor
distributor. He's on the road all the time. He purchases a Ford
F-150 pickup truck at the same time I did. He opted for the V6
EcoBoost. Totally defying my expectations, he told me this weekend
that his truck has just turned 300,000 miles and still uses no oil.
Propane is the way to go for emergency standby. Propane is
maintenance free. Plus one can get it delivered much more easily here
in the South where oil heat is very uncommon.
Ever heard of Bio Propane? Neither have I.
Of course. It's called wood gas and is made by heating wood
anaerobically and then optionally filtering out the tar. The result
is a mixture of methane, some higher hydrocarbons and CO.
A couple of years ago a friend of mine built a bio-fuel plant for a
local chicken processor. It hydrolyzes chicken feathers and feeds a
bank of generators that supply most of the plant's electrical needs.
I designed a large induction heater to heat the reaction chamber very
rapidly.
However..bio diesel can
be CHEAPLY made by you yourself.
BTDT. Have less than zero interest in repeating the experiment.
I should note that the "free" fryer oil obtained from restaurants, the
most common feedstock, is usually stolen. The recycling company that
supplies the grease receptacle signs a contract with the restaurant
operator that transfers title to the oil when it is drained from the
fryers.
So when a restaurant operator gives away fryer oil, he is giving away
something he doesn't own. IOW, the oil is stolen from its rightful
owner.
I know this based on running a chain of BBQ restaurants for 12 years.
The recyclers are getting very aggressive about this, posting signs on
many receptacles warning of prosecution for oil theft.
Even if it were legal, I have less than zero interest in doing any
work to make my generator run. I'm in my 60s now and stuff like that
no longer interests me.
Building this 15kW generator is still interesting but once built, I
expect it to run unattended for years. At least until I have to go
into an independent living home :-)
All the issues with diesel are easy resolved and cheaply. Ask the
military and all the hundreds of thousands of diesel backup generators
used in commercial buildings how its done.
But that means that I have to so something and that's more than the
zero maintenance that propane storage requires.
The military went to a diesel-like fuel (JP-something) to simplify
logistics and to reduce the fire hazard of storing and transporting
gasoline in war zones. They didn't change away from gasoline for any
performance reason.
If you look closely at large standby generators such as those which
power hospitals, you'll find that many of them run on natural gas.
Besides, regardless of the fuel used, such institutions have something
called a maintenance staff or contractor. I don't and I don't intend
to fritter my time away doing maintenance on my system.
It's a matter of choice. I choose a technology that requires little
more than an oil change every few years. Others such as yourself may
find the process of building and maintaining a diesel system
interesting. To each his own. That's the beauty of free choice.
Incidentally, there is a guy in Cleveland, TN (John Stafford, 423
479-7895) who bought up hundreds of the military gas generators when
the military did the change-out. He has them lines "shoulder to
shoulder" on an approximately 10 acre laydown yard. He's who I bought
my 15kW generator head from. He is VERY affordable.
I considered a 15kW mil surplus generator but it was too noisy.
John
John DeArmond
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.tnduction.com
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
See website for email address